Professional/Retail Building, O’Fallon, Plocher Construction
Spotlight on Southwestern Illinois Commercial Construction
Professional/Retail Building, O’Fallon, Plocher Construction
By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
A new five-story, approximately 60,000-square-foot professional office/light retail building is planned for O’Fallon. Plocher Construction will be providing the design/build services for the project, located just one block north of the intersection of Interstate 64 and Green Mount Road.
This one-of-a-kind structure will be unique to the area with its incorporation of expansive glass for its exterior. Designed by Hurford Architects, the building also includes a roof-top patio that will be available for use by the building’s tenants. Plans are for the first floor to offer a mix of retail and professional offices, with other professional offices to be located throughout the other floors. Kunkel Commercial Group is coordinating the leasing and property management services.
Visionary Wealth Advisors will occupy the fifth floor of the new facility. With a location already in Edwardsville, Plocher project manager Rachelle Lengermann said that it was their desired expansion that helped bring this project to life.
“Visionary was looking to expand, and they thought that this site in O’Fallon would be a good fit,” said Lengermann.
Challenges are always part of design-build projects, and this project was no exception. Underground coal mines in the area have to be addressed, with one located under the site for the building. The mine voids will be grouted thereby stabilizing the site for further development and construction.
The design-build approach Plocher uses helps to effectively address such challenges by providing an owner with single-source project responsibility. Using a design-build system can also be especially effective in managing a project’s timeline and budget.
“Design-build projects are unique in that we are in it from the very beginning to the very end,” Lengermann said.
Plocher Construction, located in Highland, works in all types of construction markets with annual sales volumes of $100 million.